Seòmar agus comataidhean

My apologies, Rhoda; I cut you off mid-questioning. I will come back to you.

Absolutely. I certainly share the concerns about the BRIA. There was no BRIA to reflect the impact of banning snares, because the snaring ban measures were introduced as amendments at stage 2 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. With other pieces of legislation, a BRIA was done—for example, that happened with the ban on hunting with dogs, as that absolutely was the intention of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill.

I wonder whether we can write to the minister to confirm whether it is possible to get information relating to the impact assessment of the snaring ban and how land managers and those protecting our endangered species can mitigate the impact of the removal of snaring as part of their predator control.

Are there any other comments?

Thank you.

I do not believe that we have any further questions.

Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. I also thank Jane MacPherson, who always answers the questions particularly well.

We move on to consideration of a negative Scottish statutory instrument. Do members wish to comment on the instrument?

Okay—thank you. Unless any other members have comments, I assume that we are all content. That concludes our proceedings in public, and we will move into private session.

Good morning, and welcome to the 27th meeting in 2024 of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee. Before we begin, I remind everyone to ensure that their electronic devices are switched to silent.

Rhoda Grant and Beatrice Wishart are participating remotely this morning.

The first item on the agenda is a decision on taking business in private. Does the committee agree to take item 4 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

The next item of business is to take evidence on the amendments to the joint fisheries statement. I welcome Mairi Gougeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands. She is joined by Jane MacPherson, who is the head of fisheries management strategy in the Scottish Government. We have up to 90 minutes for this discussion, and I invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement.

Thank you, cabinet secretary. The industry has mixed views on the lengthy delays. Where did it all go wrong exactly? Why does the deadline have to be extended by two years? Most people would take on board and appreciate the idea that it is important to get things right rather than to do them quickly, but, at some point, there must have been a realisation that the deadlines were far from achievable. When did you realise that, and why does the deadline have to be extended by two years? Why has the prediction of when you could get things done changed so dramatically?

Although there will be some interaction between all the plans at some level, whether that is between nations or fisheries, was any consideration given to publishing the plans for certain fisheries early, when they are ready, to address some of the issues that have been raised? Some stakeholders have suggested that the delay will have a significant negative impact on the delivery of sustainable fisheries, with regard to the likes of the scampi industry, nephrops and landing obligations. Was any consideration given to bringing forward some plans as a matter of urgency to address some of the concerns that have been raised by, in particular, non-governmental organisations?